How Would YOU Rate Your PET-ting Experience?

I talked a bit in the last entry about PET Scans, and since we are waiting, I thought it might be nice to see what they actually look like. I've told you their purpose in Chuck's recovery process and since he's been up close and personal with one, we wanted you to be too.

Here is what one looks like.



Chuck was taken to this machine that looks like a big doughnut, placed on the bed with his hands over his head, and asked to lie still while the scan was being done. This normally takes around 30-40 minutes. Any cancerous areas will have taken up the glucose solution and will show up much brighter than other colors on your scan. The real value of this form of imaging is that it can spot very, very early cancers accurately.

They did CT scan for the first 5 minutes or so. Then, little by little, he started to move through the opening for about 3 minutes each "pass". The last one he stayed for about 10 minutes with most of his body inside. He can't remember if his feet were out (he couldn't look down at them---wonder why). Then, he was done!

I wanted to pull a three dimensional animated picture to be included but the animation wouldn't come through. So, you have to use your imagination (lots of that going around, huh?) and picture this rotating so you can see all of the vital organs front the front, back, and sides. And, NO, this is not a picture of Chuck!



In the picture, you can see the hot areas which show the cancer cells starting to grow. This is the report that our doctors are waiting for so they can tell us the next step....if any are needed.

On a scale from one to ten (ten being the best experience), Chuck gives his PET-ting experience an 8. (Your arms get tired from holding them over your head for a half hour.)